Hyd retail mkt yet to reach pre-Covid level
The city shoppers have adopted ‘hybrid commerce’ buying their products at both online and offline marketplaces, say experts
Hyderabad: Facing stiff competition from the global e-commerce players, the retail market in Hyderabad has gradually recovered from the pandemic blues. Post-Covid, the scenario of shopping at malls and retail stores across the city has improved. Though the sentiment is upbeat, the retail market is yet to reach the pre-pandemic level, say experts.
According to a recent report of real estate consulting firm, CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad recorded absorption of approximately 0.21 million sq ft in investment-grade malls, high streets and standalone centres during second half of 2022. Led by domestic brands, retail leasing improved across malls in the city. The leasing was mainly driven by fashion & apparel, followed by food & beverage (F&B) and hypermarket.
“Post-pandemic, Hyderabad retail market has reached 70 per cent of trading density across all the formats. However, F&B tops the list, reaching almost 75-80 per cent of the pre-Covid levels. It is also observed that a new trend of supermarkets coming up post pandemic to cater to the immediate demand,” Abhishek Sharma, Director - Retail Agency, Knight Frank India, told Bizz Buzz.
Retail industry veteran and Retailers Association of India (RAI) Chairman Bijou Kurien said: “Hyderabad retail market has experienced a resurgence post pandemic period. Retail sales, while initially affected for apparel, has grown for all other sectors. With the surge in weddings, the apparel segment also boomed. The proliferation of newer suburbs and malls has also created additional retail catchments and spurred consumption.”
Expressing similar views, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of the RAI, said: “The data of retail business in Hyderabad during 2020-21 and 2021-22 is not comparable. In 2022-23, the city retail market has seen a decent growth reaching almost 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level in 2019-20. Of course, it has an inbuilt amount of inflation in that. However, people have started spending money significantly.”
Speaking about the retail trends in the city, he further said: “The CDIT (consumer electronics, durables, IT & telecom), sports & leisure, QSR (quick service restaurant) & restaurants, and footwear are some of the categories doing exceptionally well. In garments, occasional wear is doing good, but formal wear is yet to pick up due to the hybrid work scenario and these employees mostly prefer casual wear.”
Still, people are not putting their money on the beauty and elite products. We anticipate growth in this segment during 2023-24. The big differentiator is hybrid commerce, which means the shoppers are willing to buy at both online and offline marketplaces. These days, people prefer physical retail stores as they want to experience everything. Only if they are in hurry, they are buying online, Rajagopalan observed.
“In the offline retail market, the mid to high segment products are seeing good demand. The lower segment or discretionary products are not necessarily witnessing the growth. Particularly, the consumers are finding inflation in this segment,” he said, adding that new technologies are evolving and even the small retailers shall embrace them to keep them abreast of their competition.
